Data recovery Tip!


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This guy brought in his computer wondering if he could get anything off his failing hard drive. This drive was in bad shape, sometimes it wouldn't even show up to in the system bios as it would try to initialize on power on.

 

1) When booting off  Windows PE media PE would take forever to start was it was initiating the drive and in the end, all that would show up in Windows PE is a drive letter but you couldn't open it

2) When connecting to my desktop same thing, it would think and think and thinking, in the end, it would show up as a raw drive and it couldn't be opened.

3) Tried a Linux disc but just like above it showed up as a Raw drive

4) Did a small read pass on a sector check and in the first .2% of the drive, it said about 900 bad sectors.

5) Attempted a sector by sector clone ignoring bad sectors but after 4 days it was only 5%. (as I was attempting this and as I was saving the tib file I was annoyed I could see the folder structure but at the time didn't think I could copy the data off. I Feel like an idiot realizing there was another option of backing up files and folders)

 

So here is were things get interesting, I don't know why but for some reason when booting off the true image rescue media (in this the 2013 version) .. it too would also take a while but once it would FINALLY get to the spot were you could browse the location of the drive image tib file his hard drive showed up as Windows (c) and when you click it you could  actually see the folder structure of his hard drive O_o .

 

So then I went back and instead of an image I selected "Folders and files" .. sure enough once again for some reason True-Image was able to see the folder structure, so I went into his user account and selected the main folders and told it to copy as a tib to another hard drive. As it was backing up it would sit there for 20 mins at a time without moving.

 

In the end, I got his favorites, documents, desktop and his 14 GB of photos back and 19.8GB of his Music back.

 

So I don't know, might be a little trick for getting stuff off a really bad hard drive is to use the file and folders option in a True image boot media. Used the same technic 3 hours later on another failing hard drive that couldn't be read and was able to get some really import information a guy had stored on his desktop.

 

 

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9 minutes ago, wakjak said:

Did you missclick on the wrong subforum? 

Son of a bitch. I thought I was in hardware hangout .... Thanks for the heads up. Sent a message to a mod to have it moved.

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2 hours ago, warwagon said:

Son of a bitch. I thought I was in hardware hangout .... Thanks for the heads up. Sent a message to a mod to have it moved.

I was wondering why you had this in the "People b****ing about Trump" subforum ... I thought maybe you'd decided more people would see it that way. :laugh:

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39 minutes ago, DConnell said:

I was wondering why you had this in the "People b****ing about Trump" subforum ... I thought maybe you'd decided more people would see it that way. :laugh:

Ya the moment I saw Wakjak had commented and before I even read what he wrote I was like ...err wait... what ...something is off, he sure got here fast.

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23 minutes ago, SoCalRox said:

Great info, Warwagon. I've gotten a lot of useful stuff from your posts- thanks for another good one! Plus, I just happen to need such ideas for several personal drives.

Let me know if you are successful using this method.

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As usual, someone waits til they are in hot water before making a backup and at this point it's pretty much too late short of the OP working all kinds of magic on it.

 

but thanks for the information as i suspect this can be of some help in certain situations.

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11 hours ago, ThaCrip said:

As usual, someone waits til they are in hot water before making a backup and at this point it's pretty much too late short of the OP working all kinds of magic on it.

 

but thanks for the information as i suspect this can be of some help in certain situations.

Ya, and the thing is, this time I can't say he was too stupid to know how to backup, he wasn't. He was actually one of my smarter customers but I think he was just lazy. In a way i'm kind of sad I got his stuff back, because I think it takes a good data loss to teach you good backup practices.

 

Just before I did this method, I had pretty much given up hope of ever getting his data back and had actually already called him and told him there was nothing I could do about his data.

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that is a controller failure. 

 

sometimes, just sometimes, you can image the drive onto another before it is no longer recoverable.  it depends on what is going bad....did the controller decided to eat it or the disk/bearings/motor/heads.  Controller, if you get the exact same model (exactly the same), you can replace the controller from that one and continue to work or at least image it. 

 

When I worked for a MSP, we had stacks of donor drives.  Of course only the controller could be donated but, you get the idea.

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On 12/12/2017 at 2:31 PM, warwagon said:

Ya the moment I saw Wakjak had commented and before I even read what he wrote I was like ...err wait... what ...something is off, he sure got here fast.

Jesus - that right there could be its own thread.... just think about it

A post to the Trump section, and his little IoT gadget starts buzzing; notifying him he needs to hop on neowin, he has meaning again :rolleyes:

 

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@warwagon

I know you have made a nice little business in computer repair.  
But my question is for the industry as whole - 

Have you seen a huge decline in business over the last 5-10 years ?
It may be because I am not involved in it any more, so I dont see it.  But I am wondering if there are still droves of people who need PC technicians.
I dont see many PC repair shops anymore, and dont get people calling me anymore.  I dont even get calls for "I think I got a virus" - (but that is mainly because I put webroot on everyone's computer who I know so they won't call me)

I dont hear about hardware failures - so I think "Are they making computers that much better now, or....?"
Of course, @ work - it seem EVERYONE has a problem with Outlook/Exchange/AutoD/O365/Azure/persistent VDI w/ .ost on SAN THAT ISNT SUPPORTED !!!!!  *ahem, sorry about that  - but thats because that what Im working on...

I am not trying to be negative in any way - I think you know I respect you and your opinions - its just that when you are not involved with something - you dont "notice" it anymore.
(like when you buy a car, then seem to notice everyone else who has the same car - and you're like "did everyone just buy [insert model] or am I just noticing it, because I have one" kind of thing ?)

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9 minutes ago, T3X4S said:

@warwagon

I know you have made a nice little business in computer repair.  
But my question is for the industry as whole - 

Have you seen a huge decline in business over the last 5-10 years ?
It may be because I am not involved in it any more, so I dont see it.  But I am wondering if there are still droves of people who need PC technicians.
I dont see many PC repair shops anymore, and dont get people calling me anymore.  I dont even get calls for "I think I got a virus" - (but that is mainly because I put webroot on everyone's computer who I know so they won't call me)

I am not trying to be negative in any way - I think you know I respect you and your opinions - its just that when you are not involved with something - you dont "notice" it anymore.
(like when you buy a car, then seem to notice everyone else who has the same car - and you're like "did everyone just buy [insert model] or am I just noticing it, because I have one" kind of thing ?)

Great question. No denying that people are buying less PC's and doing more on their phones and tablets. A lot of people like to use their phones for everything but there are others that would rather use a laptop. I have seen a lot less desktop but I do still see them. In fact I have 2 in my office today both needing new hard drives. 

 

When I first started in town 14 years (and then some) ago there were around 7 different computer repair places. In Jully 2016 there were 3 and one of them closed his doors now there is 2 .. my self and another guy from an hour away who bought one of the other ones in town and comes to this town once a week.

 

I also have seen a virus decline. Most of what people call me about now are cleanups, new computer setup and data transfer and adware or hardware failure.

 

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12 hours ago, warwagon said:

Ya, and the thing is, this time I can't say he was too stupid to know how to backup, he wasn't. He was actually one of my smarter customers but I think he was just lazy. In a way i'm kind of sad I got his stuff back, because I think it takes a good data loss to teach you good backup practices.

 

Yeah, i suspect that scenario happens to a decent portion of us more tech savy types as i admit even i get a little lazy here and there. while i finally got around to burning some backups (but only for my can't-afford-to-lose kind of data like family pics/videos) to two different kinds of quality DVD recordable media (Verbatim and Taiyo Yuden) about a month or so ago there is still a bit (about 2-3 DVD's worth (basically 4 or 6 total discs ill be burning)) i got to burn to DVD before ill be up to date as before that it's been years (i think it's been since 2012) since i last burned some to DVD as i kinda got a bit lazy. but at least i had the minimum stuff that does not require much effort in that i still had the two hard drive method which gives good protection against data loss from hard drive failure and takes minimal time even though i could still be open to potential virus stuff etc.

 

p.s. as a general rule... for that cannot-afford-to-lose kind of data i prefer to have four copies (or at least three) with two different hard drives and two different kinds of quality DVD recordable media (or at least one copy on hard drive along with the two different kinds of quality recordable media). using that method my chances of data loss is next to nothing short of a house fire etc. plus, i trust quality DVD recordable media for long term storage as it seems fairly well proven if you ask me unlike hard drives as i have quality DVD's i burned 10+ years ago that still scan well to this day so i don't have to worry about data corruption etc. those should easily last 20-30 years in my estimations. but only potential negative thing with DVD recordable media is whether that stuff will still be around in 20+ years as if it becomes difficult to find a device that can read DVD's then it might be difficult to restore the data on media to a computer hard drive in case of a hard drive failure etc. but i figure DVD drives that can read recordable DVD media should not be too much of a issue to find a computer with a drive etc for at least another 10+ years. but in 20+ years time, who knows if it will be easy to restore data from a recordable DVD to a hard drive or not. i just hope they keep selling DVD burners for PC's for years to come as if that stuff ever stops then it probably won't be too long before they start to fade away and it will become difficult, with enough time, to find a computer that can get the data off the DVD.

 

5 hours ago, warwagon said:

Great question. No denying that people are buying less PC's and doing more on their phones and tablets. A lot of people like to use their phones for everything but there are others that would rather use a laptop.

 

I can definitely see that happening, sadly. but i am one of those people who got to have a Desktop (or proper Laptop) for their general internet activity etc as it's just a proper way to experience the internet and you get a bigger screen and more power etc.

 

but i won't be dumping a proper PC (which means Desktop (or proper Laptop (none of that Tablet BS)) anytime soon because all of those Tablet/Phone variations are only good for very basic internet and not much else. basically Phones/Tablets are a watered down internet experience and not only that you get more power for less $$$ on a Desktop PC and a bigger screen. i can't believe the prices of some cell phones(like you could get a quality Desktop (or proper Laptop) for those prices), and the sad thing is, people actually pay it. so unless some favors extreme portability those overpriced cell phones are a waste of $$$.

 

but i suspect since many just want that very basic internet and don't care about much beyond that, especially once you exclude those who game on the PC, then it's easy to see why PC's (Desktop/Laptop) are on the decline.

 

4 hours ago, sc302 said:

The shift is def going to tablets and the such. And it is getting easier to setup a home wireless network provided you can follow the pictures that come up.

 

Sadly :(

 

I can't believe people settle for those watered down internet experiences and underpowered devices. ill never buy a tablet (unless they are decent and dirt cheap) as i always prefer Desktop (or maybe a proper laptop for a alternative choice).

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Just used that same method and recovered all my mom's photos off her Android MicroSD 

 

Today Android said her MIcro SD card was corrupted, chkdsk would just freeze. Hardware regenerator would freeze at 4 meg for about 5 mins. Then continue on. A Windows PE disk management would freeze on refresh. But True image saw it and I recovered the image folder. I think she had them all on google photos anyway, but still, it saw the folder structure and only failed to backup 3 of the photos.

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  • 1 month later...

Used this method again tonight to transfer 29 gigs of information of Desktop, Pictures and Documents (including quicken data) off a person's hard failing laptop hard drive which when trying to boot of a Windows PE would show up as an unmountable drive.

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